In 2010 I dipped my foot into the waters of Ultra’s. There was never a time when I could train with any consistency in the way I had hoped to do to finish my 100k. Injuries were frequent and pretty painful. Yet, I pushed on. Instead of running I walked, and when I couldn’t walk I rode a bicycle or indoor cycle. I was in much better shape but by no means had much of a year as far as Ultra’s were concerned. It was a thrill to finish my 50k, but in reality I walked a big part of it; part due to need and part due to fear of a real crash and burn. In 2011, I am going to ACT like an Ultra runner, without fear or hesitation. If I fail to meet my expectations, so be it but it won’t be to a safety net I created.
In less than two weeks I will be participating in the NJ Ultra Festival 50k. It’s a FLAT course, and gives me more time to work on hills for later in the year. I fully expect a Personal Best (PB) as a result of this, in addition to the fact I have been able to run quite a bit more during the last 4 months than I did in all of 2010. In fact I may have run more in these 4 months. I have had shin pain still so I am not training at 100%, but have eased off enough to not limit training too much. It’s always exciting to PB in a race, but I’ll be shooting for much fast than my previous best of 8:16.
I know for the time being my finishes risk being in the bottom 5 or against cutoffs, but if all goes well instead of running with that “fear” I will be able to aggressively run for faster times.
A good start to the season could have a lot of positive effects, so lets get going. I am going to ease in the next two weeks with mostly cycling to try and get the pain in my right shin to go away. I may throw in a run or two to keep it fresh, but really easy.
One of the toughest things I find with participating in the races is not the training, or the racing but the waiting. Lets go……..
In less than two weeks I will be participating in the NJ Ultra Festival 50k. It’s a FLAT course, and gives me more time to work on hills for later in the year. I fully expect a Personal Best (PB) as a result of this, in addition to the fact I have been able to run quite a bit more during the last 4 months than I did in all of 2010. In fact I may have run more in these 4 months. I have had shin pain still so I am not training at 100%, but have eased off enough to not limit training too much. It’s always exciting to PB in a race, but I’ll be shooting for much fast than my previous best of 8:16.
I know for the time being my finishes risk being in the bottom 5 or against cutoffs, but if all goes well instead of running with that “fear” I will be able to aggressively run for faster times.
A good start to the season could have a lot of positive effects, so lets get going. I am going to ease in the next two weeks with mostly cycling to try and get the pain in my right shin to go away. I may throw in a run or two to keep it fresh, but really easy.
One of the toughest things I find with participating in the races is not the training, or the racing but the waiting. Lets go……..
RSS Feed